Cultivation and Breeding Techniques for Increase Silk Productivity in Indonesia

Abstract Silk is one of the textile products derived from plant fibres and is a sericulture product. Sericulture activities have a positive impact on the economy and society, as well as environmental sustainability. The many benefits of sericulture have made the Ministry of Environment and Forestry define silk as one of the potential non-timber forest products to be developed. However, there are many obstacles in developing sericulture, especially upstream (moriculture and silkworm rearing), namely low productivity. Forestry Research and Development Center is one of the stakeholders in silk development. This paper reviews the activities carried out by FRDC related to natural silk, both the development of mulberry and silkworms. The three activities carried out include research on cultivation techniques, conservation and breeding of mulberry plants and silkworms. Increased productivity is obtained by crossing or hybridization to get superior seeds. The superior products produced are Suli 01 mulberry seeds, PS 01 silkworm hybrids, and sericulture development techniques with high productivity. The Suli 01 mulberry hybrid had 30% more leaf production than conventional mulberry (M. cathayana), and the PS 01 silkworm hybrid increased cocoon production per box by 40% compared to the commonly used C301 silkworm.